Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto announced last week that his department has instituted a “road crew” program for jail inmates.

According to Prieto, a crew of one or two inmates at a time is assembled to fix potholes on county roads. They are supervised by an unpaid reserve deputy sheriff “so there is no taxpayer impact here,” said Prieto’s office.

“I wanted to implement this program to assist Public Works by having our crew doing potholes, thus freeing up their employees for more serious duties,” said the sheriff in a press release. “I also wanted to create yet another opportunity for our inmates to learn other skills, while incarcerated, in order to increase their chances in the job market upon their release.”

So far, jail crews have filled about 90 potholes since May, the department added. The sheriff is looking to expand the pilot project to three days per week.